{"product_id":"searows-death-in-the-business-of-whaling","title":"SeaRows - Death In The Business Of Whaling","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003eAlbum of the Week: Searows –\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003eDeath in the Business of Whaling\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003eStaff Review\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003eSearows, the solo project of American singer-songwriter Alec Duckart, releases their second album,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003eDeath in the Business of Whaling\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003e, via indie label Last Recordings On Earth this week. The record is the 25-year-old’s first full studio production, following the 2022 bedroom-recorded, self-released debut\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003eGuard Dog\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003eFrom the first spin, the lush, sophisticated production is immediately apparent and is a serious step up from the endearing lo-fi and largely acoustic aesthetic of earlier releases. Produced by Trevor Spencer, whose catalogue includes work with Beach House, Father John Misty and, most recently, Julianna Barwick \u0026amp; Mary Lattimore, the album realises a vast, seemingly amorphous, all-encompassing sonic environment. Honeyed swells of reverberation roll in and out, forming an ocean of sound that mirrors both the album’s title and its conceptual ambition.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003eWithin this great oceanic expanse, the often immediate and frequently powerful emotionality of Searows’ songs cuts through, and it is the meeting of these apparent opposites, fragility and intricacy set against the dramatic magnitude of the soundscapes, that makes\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003eDeath in the Business of Whaling\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003esuch an engrossing listen. Like the great British painter, J.M.W. Turner, Searows seeks to find beauty and romance in the terrifying murk of existence. Phoebe Bridgers is an obvious contemporary touchstone, and these simple, tender songs are subtly amplified by sonic detail and a soft-focus approach, rendered rich in feeling, ever so close yet just out of reach.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003eWhen Searows’ full instrumental palette does rise to the surface, as on the excellent\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003ePhotograph of a Cyclone\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003e, it does so without relying on pristine clarity. Instead, it conjures something akin to a \u003cem\u003eDreamtime Americana\u003c\/em\u003e, conjuring a washed-out vision of the great American West, a frontier, a treacherous passage, both figurative and literal, as much psychological as it is physical, not unlike Ethel Cain’s recent modernisation of the Southern Gothic. Elsewhere, strobing, synth-like guitars glide across the surface of the Slowdive-esque shoegaze-folk of\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003eHunter\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003e, while the stripped-back acoustic ballad\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003eDirt\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003eoffers a welcome shelter from the storm, its shimmering guitar and softly sung melody drifting through calmer, placid waters.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003eCrushing distorted chords and waves of guitar punctuate the vivid terrain of\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003eDearly Missed\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003e, another clear highlight and one of the strongest songs Duckart has written to date. It’s the closest the album comes to a traditional alternative-rock track, as tension builds with each churn and clang of its grooving motifs. Through its swift, liquid-like shifts between quiet intimacy and explosive release, the track achieves a keening, anthemic catharsis. Later,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003eIn Violet\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003ealmost inverts this formula, rather than bruising guitars, it is coiled, sparkling banjo motifs that drive the song’s melodic propulsion, recalling the early indie-folk of Iron \u0026amp; Wine and Sufjan Stevens, filtered through a contemporary lens tinted by artists such as Alex G and Bon Iver.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003eLike opening track\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003eBelly of the Whale\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003e, and indeed the album as a cohesive yet varied whole,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003eIn Violet\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; color: black;\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; color: black;\"\u003eunderlines just how many strings Searows has to their bow, guitar, banjo, or whatever else is required to perfect each track’s immersive atmosphere.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"LAST RECORDINGS ON EARTH","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":53206274736455,"sku":"TRI-66927","price":14.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false},{"title":"Standard Black Vinyl","offer_id":53206275326279,"sku":"TRI-66928","price":24.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true},{"title":"Gold Vinyl","offer_id":53206275555655,"sku":"TRI-66929","price":27.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0931\/9779\/5655\/files\/87fb8d8d6cefbfe9359f45d6c612f82c.jpg?v=1769369581","url":"https:\/\/towerrecords.ie\/products\/searows-death-in-the-business-of-whaling","provider":"Tower Records Dublin Ireland","version":"1.0","type":"link"}